The Aftermath
by MagicalMemory
Summary: *CoHF Spoilers!* Set after the end of CoHF, as kind of a continuation of what could have happened, perhaps. I hope you all read this, and I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I do writing it! **Bonds will be made, trust will be broken by the ones closest to the heart, and demons are inevitable - personal demons AND real ones. Jace/Clary, Simon/Izzy, Magnus/Alec. Rated T!


H**ello, everyone! Thank you for deciding to read my new fanfic. I just finished CoHF yesterday and I have been itching to write something from where the book left off. So this is the first chapter. I really hope everyone likes it! Let me know in a review or by fav/alert. Thanks, everyone!  
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**Chapter One**

The morning after Jocelyn and Luke's wedding, Clary awoke to sun streaming in the window next to the bed in one of the many rooms of the farmhouse. The walls were divided halfway up toward the ceiling, one half white paint, and one half floral wallpaper. There was an old wooden dresser in the corner next to the closet and one the bedside table next to her was a clock and a small lamp. She heard someone breathing next to her and turned her head slightly, noticing the throb of an oncoming headache in her temple. Jace lay next to her, the sunlight making his golden hair look even paler. She also noticed that the blankets hung low on his hips and he was not wearing a shirt...or any clothes for that matter, and neither was she, Clary noticed with a feeling of electric shock. Then the events of the night before, after the reception was over, flooded back to her. She and Jace walking back from the side of the lake, both casting soppy looks at each other as they walked, their arms around one another; then the wine, Jace playfully chasing her upstairs in the farmhouse while Jocelyn and Luke were saying their goodbyes to their guests somewhere else on the grounds; then there were Jace's hands, soft and subtle as they caressed her skin from her collarbone all the way down to her hips. His mouth had been like liquid fire on her own, but not from the heavenly fire, she knew, since he could control it - this had been from simple yet extremely intricate passion and love that flowed between them. While they hadn't been drunk the night before, Clary had had a slight buzz, the feeling making her giddy almost as they tangled themselves together beneath the blankets.

Clary looked at Jace now and could see his eyes flickering back and forth beneath his closed eyelids. She pulled her blanket a little higher on her chest and reached a hand out as she turned on her side toward him, her fingers lightly tracing along his jawline. Jace's eyes flickered open at the first sign of her tough and he smiled sleepily, snaking his arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him.

"Good morning, beautiful," he murmured, pressing his lips to her temple.

Clary felt her lips curve up in a smile. "Morning," she said quietly, bringing her hand up to rest on his chest.

Jace watched her for a moment and the sunlight illuminated his golden eyes. Waking up next to him would never get old, she realized. She thought of the night before, after she had given him the Herondale ring, when he had said 'Clary Herondale', and a shiver ran up her spine. It wasn't one of those shivers that was brought on by fear or disgust, this one was of longing and excitement. She knew then, the night before, that he really had been thinking of their future, obviously. A future together.

Clary was busy listening to the beat of Jace's heart with her head against his chest when she heard her mother and Luke downstairs in the kitchen, their happy voices carrying upstairs through the wooden floorboards. She heard several other voices and recognized them as Magnus and Simon's. Her eyes flew wide and she sat up, holding the blanket to her neck. "Oh my God, it's eight-thirty. Mom and Luke are up….and you're in my bed, naked," she said in a whisper-yell.

Jace chuckled, which infuriated her and made her swoon all at the same time. "Well it's a good thing you put that seal rune on the door so they can't get in."

Clary smiled and rolled her eyes, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and she stood, letting the blanket fall. She could feel Jace's eyes on her as she dug out of her bag a pair of jeans, a white tank top and undergarments. She slid her clothes on and turned and looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "Enjoying the show?" she chastised.

Jace smiled. "Well of course," he said and he too got out of the bed and pulled on his boxers, followed by jeans and a black t-shirt.

Clary pulled her hair up into a ponytail and headed for the door, pulling her steel off of the dresser to undo the seal rune she had placed on the door last night. She opened the door slowly...only to come face to face with her mother who stood there, arms crossed, and an expression that was becoming increasingly angry.

"Clarissa Adele," her mother said, voice tight as she glanced past Clary at Jace, "and Jace Herondale...what on _earth_ are you two doing in the same bedroom?"

Clary knew it was a rhetorical question and she prayed Jace would stay quiet.

"I was just -" Jace began but Jocelyn held up a hand to silence him.

"I do not want to hear it. Get out of my daughter's room now," she said and stepped sideways as Jace murmured an apology and slid past the two of them and went downstairs. Clary heard the door open and close and knew he left, obviously not wanting to face Luke's wrath if he also knew.

"How did you know?" Clary asked quietly, blushing scarlet.

"I figured when Jace didn't show up downstairs with the others this morning, and you too were missing, then something wasn't right," Jocelyn said tightly.

"I'm sorry," Clary began but her mother cut her off.

"Where you at least _careful_?" she asked her daughter, her expression softening slightly, her eyes pleading.

"Yes, of course," Clary lied. In the heat of the moment, they hadn't been. She realized now how stupid they had been, and that there could be a major consequence from it, but prayed there wouldn't be.

Jocelyn looked relieved. "Oh thank goodness," she said, exhaling. "Listen, I don't approve of your rendezvous with Jace, but I know it's not a first for the both of you. Was I shocked to find out that it was while you were under my roof? Yes. Did I expect him to come downstairs with Alec, Isabelle, Simon, and Magnus this morning? Yes, I did. I did not expect to find him here, both of you looking like you had just rolled out of bed. At least….at least you didn't lie about it," she trailed off. She knew her daughter was growing up, and Clary could tell that she didn't like it. But Clary also knew that she could no longer consider her a child. With all the war and bloodshed that she had gone through in the past eleven months, there was not an ounce of 'child' left in her. She was an adult, having seen too much to still be an adolescent.

"I'm sorry," Clary said, the blush finally beginning to fade from her cheekbones.

Jocelyn breathed out a sigh and then nodded her head. "Luke made breakfast downstairs if you're hungry," she said. She offered a tiny smile and then turned and walked back downstairs, her footsteps quiet on the old wood.

Clary sighed heavily feeling utterly embarrassed that her mother had found out and had pretty much caught them. She went into the bathroom and brushed her teeth before she went downstairs to find everyone except Jace sitting around the table, eating eggs, sausage, and pancakes with juice in front of them.

Clary slid into a chair next to Isabelle and the dark haired girl smirked and nudged her shoulder against Clary's. "I need to talk to you later," Isabelle whispered to her and Clary's eyebrows rose.

"I am not giving you details-" Clary began but Isabelle shook her head quickly.

"No, not about _that_. It's something else," Isabelle said and went on with eating her breakfast.

Jocelyn entered the room and took her seat next to Luke once again, picking her fork up and beginning to eat. Clary, however, wasn't feeling very hungry. She grabbed a piece of toast from a pile on a saucer and then pushed her chair back out from the table. "I'm going to see where Jace went," she announced just as she heard Alec's phone beep.

"Actually, you're not," Alec said, standing up.

Clary looked at him, appalled.

"He texted me and said that he needs my help with something, but not to tell you. So, I've told you, and he will kill me if he finds out," Alec explained. "Shouldn't take long, I don't think," he said before he thanked Luke for breakfast. "I'll let you know as soon as whatever it is, is done," he promised, and then he disappeared out the door, everyone looking from between her and Alec with confusion.

Clary looked at everyone around the table and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know," she mumbled and then Isabelle stood up as well.

"Come on, need to talk," Isabelle said, grabbing Clary's wrist before she dragged her outside with her. Everyone watched them go with knowing expressions, Jocelyn holding Luke's hand and smiling brightly.

Isabelle dragged Clary alongside her, dressed similarly in jeans but in a black tank top instead of a white one, and of course she had her boots on where Clary only had flip flops on her own feet. "Izzy, where are we going?" Clary asked, surprised at how serious and urgent Isabelle seemed.

Isabelle slowed to a stop and turned to look at Clary. "You know you're my best friend, right?" she asked her.

Clary blinked, surprised. "I am?" she asked, smiling.

Isabelle nodded. "I never had other girls to be friends with, growing up with three boys, you know? You're like the sister I never had…" she said, biting her lip. "I've been thinking for a while...and watching Jace and Alec. They're _parabatai. _They know each other better than they know themselves...they're there for each other no matter what."

Clary thought she knew the direction Isabelle was headed in with this conversation and she smiled at the girl in front of her. She, too, had been like the sister she never had, and she also considered Isabelle one of her best friends. Would she trust the girl with her life in a battle? Yes, she would, she realized. Without a doubt. Isabelle was such an amazingly strong warrior that it surprised her sometimes since she seemed very different at other times.

"I guess….what I'm trying to say," Isabelle continued, "is...I was wondering if you would be my _parabatai_?"

Clary didn't even have to think about it. She already had. "Yes, Izzy. I will. You have no idea how honored I am that you would consider me for such. You're an amazing fighter. I trust you with my life."

Isabelle squealed and clapped her hands together, looking relieved. She had apparently been very anxious and nervous about asking her. She reached out and grabbed Clary in a hug, making Clary laugh. "Oh, God, I'm so glad," she said, breathless. "I thought for sure you might say no...well I hoped you wouldn't. There's no one else I would rather ask than you. I've seen what you can do on the battlefield and even though you aren't related by blood...you're still my family," she said.

Clary had never heard Isabelle talk so highly of her, and it made her heart soar. "Thank you, Izzy."

Isabelle nodded her head, smiling in happiness and relief. "Thank _you_."

"One question...no one ever told me how to _become_ someone's _parabatai__, _" Clary said, looking at Isabelle thoughtfully.

"We take an oath to one another in front of the Council," Isabelle explained. "As we each say our oath, we draw the rune on the other one."

Clary nodded. "Okay easy," she said, glad there was nothing too awfully complicated involved. She would do it anyway, of course, for Isabelle.

"I'll have Alec send a message to Jia Penhallow to let her know so that we can do it as soon as possible," Isabelle said. "Shouldn't be more than a day or two. She just has to call a few people in as 'witnesses' to it, to us taking the oath."

"Great," Clary said, still feeling over the moon that Isabelle thought so highly of her. Usually, she didn't care what other people thought of her. She was herself, and Jace loved her for that, and so did all of her friends and family. She had always thought that she aggravated Isabelle a lot of times, so she was glad that she now finally knew that the other girl loved and trusted her enough to be her _parabatai._

"Let's get back in and let everyone know," Isabelle said happily, almost skipping toward the front porch to the farmhouse, Clary jogging behind her. She wished Jace was inside with everyone else so that she could tell him now, but she knew it could wait until later. She just briefly wondered where Jace had run off to, and why Alec had to go help him. With what, she didn't know.

Isabelle walked in the house with Clary on her heels. "She said yes!" she said and Magnus beamed at the two girls, while Jocelyn got up and walked over to them, embracing each of them in a hug one at a time. Luke came over behind her and he bent down to sweep Clary up in a fatherly hug.

"There's nothing like it," he told her, smiling. "The feeling that you have your best friend with you all the time. Having each other's backs in battle and out of battle. You will have to take care of each other the way sisters should."

Both girls nodded, smiling, appreciative to the advice. Clary knew that he remembered what it was like to be Valentine's _parabatai_ before her biological father had turned into a murderous, demonic monster.

Magnus' phone was the one to beep at the table this time, and he picked it up. He read whatever message had come through and he smiled slowly, his cat-like eyes bright.

"What is it? Is everything okay?" Clary asked him, seeing his expression.

"Oh, yes," Magnus said cooly. "Everything is wonderful."

Clary gave him a look that clearly had the words 'spill your guts' all over it, but she realized that Magnus was determined not to give anything away. "Oh, you will find out soon enough, biscuit," he said simply.


End file.
